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AHSI NEWS & EVENTS

FALL CONVENING WRAP UP
The Fall Convening, held October 14-16, in Houston, Texas was a great success! Thank you to all who joined us!

We were energized by the perspectives of our AHSI Place-based Partnership leaders from Indianapolis, Nashville, and Newark; a thought-provoking keynote address about non-cognitive variables affecting students’ successful transition to postsecondary education; outstanding presentations of programs and resources from across the network and beyond; and a lively “Let’s Make an AHSI Deal,” Pick-Me-Up that revealed show-stopping talent among our members!!

We were inspired by our colleagues from the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans — AAMA’s history and legacy live on in a thriving Latino community; a highly interactive and well orchestrated visit to George I. Sanchez Charter High School, even as they recovered from Hurricane Ike; a visit from Mayor Bill White who welcomed us and affirmed the contributions of high quality alternative schools; and a presentation from Kazi whose powerful message about Life is an inspiring tribute that helps us affirm why we are committed to encouraging young people to fulfill their dreams.

We were informed and challenged by our capacity building efforts with data, high school to career and college transition, math and quantitative reasoning, policy and place-based partnerships, and principal training and support! We recapped your responses to the AHSI Network Survey and AHSI Work Group Surveys and began considering “so what” together. We learned about extensive progress with work groups and acknowledged the need to figure out how this work becomes better integrated within every network. We heard about the new AHSI web site and how it will enable us to communicate more effectively with one another and others beyond AHSI.

EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL INITIATIVE (ECHSI) FALL FORUM HIGHLIGHTS
On October 29-30, 2008, the Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI) hosted its Fall Forum in Boston, MA.

The ECHSI Fall Forum created an outstanding opportunity for our colleagues from Gateway to College who participate in ECHSI and AHSI, as well as the AHSI Director, to engage in an intense agenda focused on the theme, “Moving Forward: Lessons Learned and Future Forecasting.” The ECHSI Forum achieved its goals, namely (1) analyzing data from the ECHSI Student Information System (SIS) and Integrated Survey, (2) crafting five key messages and devising strategies for engaging state and national leaders in policy and advocacy using SIS and other data sources, and (3) engaging intermediaries in a peer-to-peer format for solving challenges related to the ECHSI Core Principles (comparable to our AHSI Distinguishers). The forum was well attended and instructive for AHSI as we deepen our capacity for using data as a tool for providing evidence of success and as we partner with ECHSI to figure out how to effectively communicate our messages to policy makers and other key audiences.

One highlight of this gathering was the Mini-Peer Review Process for sharing challenges, strategies, and successes. Well in advance of the ECHSI Fall Forum, intermediaries were invited to identify a challenge related to implementing one of the five Early College Core Principles. ECHSI facilitators from Jobs for the Future (JFF) provided intermediaries with guidelines for the mini-peer review session, including a format for describing the challenge in writing and providing relevant background materials and resources. JFF paired intermediaries who had identified similar challenges, and representatives of both organizations were given a briefing packet to review prior to the gathering. During the ECHSI Fall Forum, intermediaries met in pairs for a three-hour session moderated by a JFF staff member using a step-by-step, timed format. Each organization had one and one-half hours to discuss its key question and receive just-in-time advice from the peer. Discussions were candid, thoughtful, and insightful. Every intermediary was able to tap its own expertise and delve deeply into the context and circumstances of a peer organization to share ideas and suggestions. Participants found the session highly valuable, though additional time might have made the opportunity even more rewarding. It will be exciting to explore how AHSI might adopt this strategy!

CONGRATULATIONS to Leslie Haynes, JFF, and all our ECHSI colleagues on an outstanding Fall Forum! We look forward to continuing to learn from one another!

MATH / QUANTITATIVE REASONING WORK GROUP UPDATE
Creating & Sustaining a Culture of Numeracy in Our Schools (concept paper):
We continue to look for appropriate avenues to share and discuss the contents of this paper and implications in our schools. On October 29th, Gateway to College hosted a Brown Bag Seminar on Numeracy with this paper provided as a pre-read and serving as the impetus for discussion. On November 13th, this paper again provided the basis for discussion at a How-to Session on Numeracy at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Multiple Education Pathways Learning Exchange event in Washington D.C. We continue to explore other forums for getting this message out to the public and encourage all intermediaries to utilize the paper both internally and externally.

Mixed-Intermediary Numeracy Teams (MINT):
A revised draft process and observation tool for Mixed-Intermediary Numeracy Teams (MINT) will be sent out to workgroup members prior to our December 3rd workgroup conference call. We will continue to refine this process and tool as well as firm up details for our first MINT site visit to take place at a Big Picture school (Mapleton Early College – Denver, CO) in February 2009. Discussions are also underway for the second MINT site visit to take place at a Diploma Plus school on the East Coast in late March/early April 2009. These full day MINT site visits will include up to 2 representatives from all interested AHSI intermediaries and will replace the Math/QR mini-convening originally scheduled for February 2009.

Next Math/QR Workgroup Call:
Wednesday, December 3rd from 3:00pm to 4:30pm (EST)
Call In: 1-866-750-2872
Passcode: 6590582

AHSI NEWS FROM THE NETWORK

SEE FOREVER / MAYA ANGELOU PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOLARS TAKE PART IN A CALL TO ACTION FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE
On Thursday, November 6, 2008, a town hall meeting that included scholars from See Forever’s Oak Hill Academy was held at Georgetown Law School. The meeting was moderated by Professor Charles Ogletree from Harvard Law School and discussed a bi-partisan juvenile justice plan of action with the new administration. You can watch the Town Hall Meeting online at http://www.law.georgetown.edu/webcast/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=656.

STREETSCHOOL NETWORK IN EGYPT
In addition to an increasing amount of national recognition and visibility, the StreetSchool Network is going to get some international exposure in November at the 2008-2009 Five Star Conferences in Egypt for school administrators and teachers, the sixth annual such conferences offered by CITA (the Commission for International and Trans-Regional Accreditation). The theme for the conferences is “Reaching for the Stars through Learning, Teaching, and Leading”. As a result of the StreetSchool Network‘s relationship with CITA as a sponsoring corporation for accreditation, Todd Goble, Vice President of Education for the StreetSchools, has been asked by CITA Executive Director, Dr. Randy Sinisi, to be a presenter at two Five Star Conferences, one being held on November 15 in Cairo at the New Generation International School, and one being held on November 22, at the El Quds International School in Alexandria.

Mr. Goble has been asked to speak on the exciting work that the StreetSchools has done with economic literacy, through the Ele:Vate Initiative. He will be presenting at three one hour seminars in Cairo and two three-hour seminars in Alexandria entitled: “Economics Everywhere: Building Understanding, Engagement, and Achievement”. Educators across the world are looking for ways to increase student engagement and achievement. In a unique instructional approach called Infusionomics, economic concepts and the economic way of thinking are infused in the existing curriculum, bringing relevance to the subject matter, encouraging good decision making, and increasing student engagement and achievement, all without displacing curriculum with an additional course. Participants in these seminars will examine this instructional method, learn about the Keystone Economic Principles, and participate in activities that reinforce these principles and core economic concepts.

In the week between the two conferences, Mr. Goble will be a part of a three member CITA accreditation team that will do a four day accreditation visit at the City International School, a preK-12 school in Cairo, using the CITA standards that are used by CITA trans-regionally in the United States, and the same standards that are a part of the CITA/StreetSchool accreditation process for the StreetSchool Network. The StreetSchool Network is honored to be part of the CITA Alliance, accrediting more than 32,000 schools in 100 countries, touching over 17 million students. It now finds itself engaged in promoting quality schools, continuous improvement, and student success worldwide. For more information regarding CITA, see www.citaschools.org. For more information regarding Ele:Vate and Infusionomics, see www.infusionomics.com.

GATEWAY TO COLLEGE WELCOMES NEW STAFF
Gateway to College National Network has recently hired three new staff members. Michael Wildfeuer is the National Network’s new finance director. He has 30 years of experience as a finance director for nonprofits in Pennsylvania and is very excited about joining Gateway to College. You can reach Michael at mwildfeuer@gatewaytocollege.org or 503-802-6312. Shannon Mouzon, a recent graduate of Brandeis University, is the new program assistant and will be providing a broad range of support. You can reach Shannon at smouzon@gatewaytocollege.org or 503-788-6243. Niles Voyer-McGiver has accepted a one-year position as program intern, where he will assist with evaluation, updating the National Network’s web site, and much more. You can reach Niles at nvm@gatewaytocollege.org or 503-802-6313.

COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS PERFORMANCE LEARNING CENTERS® HOLD NETWORK-WIDE MOCK ELECTION
Earlier this month 27 Performance Learning Centers (PLCs) in Georgia, North Carolina and Washington participated in a network-wide mock presidential election. The election focused on the recent campaigns of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain.

The mock election was a cross-curricular, school-wide academic service learning project at Catoosa County PLC in Georgia that grew from student work to a network-wide PLC Election Day and webcast of the results. Students at Catoosa PLC were divided into roles and duties that were election-related and supported coursework. These duties dealt with subjects such as the Electoral College (math, government), domestic lobbyists (U.S. history), international lobbyists (world history, foreign language), science and health lobbyists (science), journalists and pundits (language arts, journalism), the Blogosphere (computer applications), campaign workers (electives, vocational), candidates and their handlers (interested student leaders), and voters (everyone).

After weeks of work, the project culminated in a network-wide PLC election day where all PLCs were invited to vote, monitor results on the blog, and watch a webcast from Catoosa PLC. PLC and CIS students and staff were invited to vote on-line through a system created by CIS National for the event. Electoral votes were determined by the populations of each PLC district.

Barack Obama was elected by the PLC network with 64% of the popular vote and 151 electoral votes. John McCain received 32% of the popular vote and 37 electoral votes. The students gained a better understanding of the presidential election, the role of the Electoral College, and how their involvement in civic life can make a difference.

Along with participating in the network-wide mock election, many other PLCs participated in election-related activities such as voter registration drives, “first vote” celebrations, neighborhood canvassing, and information campaigns. Seven African-American males from Dougherty County PLC in Georgia will be attending the Presidential Inauguration in January. The students were nominated by their teachers and are currently working to raise their own funds for the trip.

PLCs are small, non-traditional high schools geared toward students who are not succeeding in the traditional school setting. They help students to graduate and prepare for college and other post-secondary options.

BIG PICTURE LEARNING LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE
Announcing the new www.bigpicture.org! Celebrating our re-emergence as Big Picture Learning, this redesigned website expands upon Big Picture’s new three-pronged approach to reimagining education: starting and supporting schools, designing and refining innovation in learning environments, and influencing policy and the public conversation around education. With user-friendly new features such as an interactive map of schools, downloadable materials and guides, multiple RSS feeds, and digital interest forms for potential staff, www.bigpicture.org is truly a site to behold!

POLICY AND PLACE-BASED PARTNERSHIPS

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES UPDATE
The AHSI network made a significant contribution to the success of last weeks’ U. S. Department of Labor Multiple Education Pathways Learning Exchange. The outgoing Assistant Secretary of Labor referred to it as an opportunity to help frame the role of the federal government in supporting multiple pathways. The Indianapolis-AHSI Partnership had a high profile role as one of three cities (alongside New York and Brockton, Mass.) building multiple pathways. Numerous representatives of AHSI network partners were among the 300 participants; most took leadership roles in a variety of sessions. All three AHSI Place-Based Partnership sites, including Nashville and Newark, sent representatives, as did other cities with which AHSI and NLC are playing supportive roles, among them Omaha, Portland, and Denver.

Elliot Washor joined NLC staff in multiple conversations with municipal officials at last week’s annual National League of Cities conference, the Congress of Cities in Orlando, FL. Elliot joined the mayors of Denver, Colorado; Springfield, Illinois; and Burleson, Texas (outside Ft Worth) for a spirited discussion on city-school collaboration to advance the role of alternatives and to support young people with regard to the non-cognitive variables that raise the chances of college success.

In parallel with the regular sessions of the Congress of Cities, NLC and AHSI hosted the first ever Mayors-Superintendents Roundtable on Improving High Schools in partnership with the influential Council of the Great City Schools. The Roundtable drew teams of Mayors and Superintendents from Milwaukee, Providence, Omaha, Charleston SC, and Nashville, along with Superintendent Eugene White from Indianapolis Public Schools. Discussions were wide ranging; one session, for instance, focused on the role of city-school collaboration in broadening effective alternatives for high school. Overall the roundtable created a venue for cross-city sharing of promising practices, laid the foundation for future discussions on city-schools collaboration, and deepened working relationships among the participants.

As the space shuttle left earth nearby, the Congress of Cities provided a launching pad for a new challenge by a leadership group of mayors to other municipal leaders around the country to set bold, specific targets for child and family well-being. Twenty-six prominent mayors (including Karl Dean of Nashville and Cory Booker of Newark) have launched this new initiative to promote city leadership and action on behalf of young people and their families. The Mayors’ Action Challenge for Children and Families (www.doleta.gov/youth_services.

NYC CHARTER PLANNING TEAMS SEEKING FOUNDING BOARD MEMBERS
Charter school board experiences are very rewarding – especially when you become involved at the ground level. You are able to see the fruits of your labor and are rewarded in ways you might never imagine. Four charter planning teams are currently recruiting NYC-based prospective candidates for their founding boards. Each charter team’s needs are outlined and a one-page description of each school is included as an appendix to the downloadable newsletter. If you, your friends and/or colleagues are interested in any of the teams please contact Leslie Talbot at Leslie@TalbotConsulting.com or 212-864-6762.